Decending and Landing Mooney techniques

[M016576]

Quote: jetdriven

Im sure the 231 is like a 201 but more like a jet, if you are getting high and fast, shove it down first, level off then slow down.   Slowing down first the plane laughs at you.  I can hear mine laughing right now at me.... I have screwed it up pretty good the first few times.

[Awful_Charlie]

Thought we'd been before, and a quick search shows we have - http://www.mooneyspace.com/index.cfm?mainaction=posts&forumid=1&threadid=2421#post27035 

I'm luck enough to have a 430 as GPS2, so I normally put a DCT to my destiniation on there, and then set the 430 for 1000' above the waypoint 3nm before, and with a VSR of 600FPM.  When the alarm clicks in, call for descent, and even if it comes straight away, then then it will be be in the right ballpark.  If the clearance gets delayed, then steal some MP.

Remember the terrain clearance!!  Also bear in mind that if you set up a descent with a VS, from a high altitude your TAS and probably ground speed is going to reduce as you come down, but with a constant vertical speed your angle then increases, so don't be worried if at the beginning of descent the VSR is increasing slowly

Ben

[orangemtl]

Before anything: thanks for this string of comments and info. Being a low timer, it's invaluable data.

While the G1000 allows for seemingly any setup of descent and flight parameters, I'm based in western AZ. Mountains tend to pop up from the surrounding desert base pretty sharply, and they look to be fairly solid---hence, descent from, say 9000 feet requires that you have a very, VERY clear idea of where your mountains are.  They still make me nervous at night, even with Synthetic vision and the moving map---but eminently doable.  I need to stay over 4000 until a few miles from home, then drop to 1700 in the pattern.  Very different flying in my limited experience from, say where I first learned in Texas, or in Illinois where it's billiard table-flat.

Speedbrakes definitely serve as a valuable backup, if you find yourself inconveniently high before you enter the pattern. I agree with others, that I hate to waste all that expensive altitude when I can pick up some speed in a long descent, instead. Once you're a few miles out however, the last thing I need is MORE speed, so: no loss, at that point.